Giants Will Not Use Transition Tag on Xavier McKinney

A shocking report out of the Giants' camp yesterday claimed that Star Safety Xavier McKinney will not get transitional tagged and will become a free agent. Many had pegged this as a “sure thing” move that would help New York secure one of its best young players. Of course, that’s not how things have played out. General Manager Joe Schoen and company have clearly decided against it, and will now let their two biggest free agents (McKinney & Barkley) test the market. 

Having touched on the Barkley situation already, many Giants fans looked at the McKinney's contract talks with optimism. Nevertheless, the same type of stalemate that was encountered in Barkley’s negotiations seems to have seeped over to negotiations with the former Bama DB. The decision not to apply the transitional tag is confusing, because it would grant NY the opportunity to match any contract he is offered. Without the tag McKinney is free to go anywhere he wants for whatever amount of money. I’d expect his contract to be anywhere from 2-5 years with an average annual value of around 15-17 million dollars. 

With the estimated finances of a future contract, it begs the question of if the Giants should even look to retain him at all. My response is still a resounding yes for multiple reasons. To start, he is a team captain who is coming off a great season. A season in which we saw him allow zero touchdowns in pass coverage all year. On top of that he added three interceptions, eleven pass break ups, and an astounding 116 total tackles. With all that factored in, probably the most impressive feat is that he played every single down for the Giants' defense this year. The quote “availability is the best ability” has never been truer, and McKinney personifies that perfectly.